Computer systems have evolved significantly during the last century. Starting from relatively slow electromechanical data manipulation devices employed primarily by large businesses, present-day computer systems include a broad gamut of markedly higher-speed computation devices ranging from massively parallel processing systems to highly agile, portable and interconnectable multiple-function computation engines enjoying far broader distribution and a markedly richer ensemble of applications.
One consequence of the dramatic expansion of computer systems has been the advent of distributed computer systems for information dispersal, promoting commercial interactions and the like, via media such as the Internet (aka “Web”). The initial ARPAnet data exchange typically was limited to brief textual messaging, and this information exchange modality was initially developed to facilitate robust data/information exchange, even in light of severe infrastructural damage, such as might be associated with a natural or man-made disaster.
However, the resultant Internet communication mode is presently capable of handling huge amounts of data with great efficiency and of providing a rich variety of multimedia information. Additionally, it is more convenient, in many ways, than some other communications tools, at least in part because the user has a greater degree of flexibility in choosing when to interact with the system and thus with another party's information.
This is coupled with the convenience of a high probability of extremely rapid access to content (e.g., a datastore or website), even when the user is many thousands of miles away from the content provider. It is also often associated with fixed service price (i.e., no incremental per-message costs), color image as well as motion picture and mixed-media messaging transmission capabilities, providing an attractive ensemble of features for many situations. As a result, protocols were developed that presently provide efficient access to an often near-real-time communications exchange medium supportive of a broad gamut of multimedia information, typically via a graphical user interface or GUI.
However, as a result, website developers frequently require the ability to access and display website navigation information. Traditionally, this need has been fulfilled with ad-hoc solutions including: shipping navigation data via a query-string; storing navigation data in closed, non-extensible file formats; and custom coding. Traditionally, site navigation is addressed in unique and site-specific ways using custom code developed independently for each web site. There is no one standard approach for storing, retrieving and displaying site navigation data. As a result, these types of solutions suffer from the following shortcomings:                Code that consumes website navigation data is tightly coupled with or highly dependent on the storage format of this data;        Websites consume non-portable navigation data. Pages and controls that are copied across different website implementations need to be re-tooled to accommodate different website navigation implementations; and        Even when a website developer has the foresight to centralize web site navigation data logic, the benefits of code re-use are limited to that developer's sphere of influence.        
There are thus increasing needs for methods and apparatus for increasing flexibility of applications for scalable computer systems and providing performance improvements.